Simon Bridgland

I have worked as a teacher since I qualified from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1995. Since then I have held many enjoyable, challenging and different teaching positions within the education system. I started off as a Geography teacher in Harrow, North West London and over the years gained a number of promotions that led me all the way to becoming a Deputy Head in an inner city London school. At this point I decided that it was time for a change as my focus had been taken away from my one real love which is classroom teaching. The quest then became to find a school that I would be happy in making this huge change from deputy head back to a classroom teacher.

I found BISC and couldn’t have picked a better school. Right from the start I was amazed by the enthusiasm and learning focus of the students, and just how eager they all are to discover new things about the world. This school was just what I was hoping for and made my journey back to being a full time classroom teacher a really wonderful one. I have never looked back. The move to BISC and Charlotte itself was a big decision for my family and I. We definitely feel that we made the right choice though, we are all really happy to be here.

I believe the people who know me would describe me as an ‘active’ person. Sport is a passion and I enjoy taking part in a number of different ones. A few of my current favourites are mountain biking, golf, racquetball and running. I try to stay in shape, going to the gym three times a week to maintain a general all round fitness level. Sometimes my training will change if I have decided to enter a particular event, for example a marathon. I have completed the Charlotte marathon twice which was an all-time ambition of mine.

I also love to read but find it hard to find the time during the school term. I like nothing better though than to immerse myself in a good crime novel while relaxing on vacation. I also enjoy travelling and I have visited many interesting countries. I am fascinated by different cultures and try and experience as much of them during my travels as possible. One of my favourite trips was to Japan where you really do feel that you have entered another world.

BISC is a school unlike any other I have ever taught in. Here, there is a much greater connection between the teachers, students and parents. We are like one big family who work together to make this school totally unique. The school is completely student centred, everything that we do starts off with the thought: ‘How does this benefit the learning of our students?’ This is our approach, but we also take it further. Not only are students the centre of everything that we do, we additionally take each individual as a separate entity and work out a tailored pathway for them that is designed to facilitate them on their personal learning journey to success. We are all about the individual and are often complimented by the parents of our students for making huge progress with their children where before, in other schools, the success they have had was far more limited.